1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage having a device for labeling containers such as bottles, cans and other containers and types of packaging with a container conveyor and labeling stations positioned on its periphery so that they work in alternation, with a label transfer and dispensing device for labels that are attached to a carrier strip as described hereinbelow.
2. Background Information
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can possibly comprise a beverage filling machine with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material. The apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined flow of liquid beverage filling material further comprises an apparatus that is designed to terminate the filling of the beverage bottles upon the liquid beverage filling material reaching the predetermined level in bottles. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine. Upon filling, a closing station closes the filled bottles. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station. Bottles may be labeled in a labeling station, the labeling station having a conveyer arrangement to receive bottles and to output bottles. The closing station and the labeling station may be connected by a corresponding conveyer arrangement.
In the context of this application, the term “container” is used for vessels that contain any desired products such as, for example, beverages, foods, medicines etc., such as bottles, cans, jars with and without screw caps etc. For purposes of simplification, the term “container” is often used below.
The present application is thereby based on a continuously operating labeling device, in which the containers are moved with a superimposed independent rotation on a conveyor track and the labels that are fastened to a carrier strip are moved by said carrier strip.
During the transfer of the labels to the containers, the containers and labels come into contact at the transfer point and move at the same velocity. The initial attachment of the labels to the containers is achieved by their self-adhesive properties. The subsequent attachment and fixing in position of the rest of the label is done by applying pressure or brushing elements, whereby these elements contribute to the smooth and defect-free fastening of the labels on the containers.
The present application further relates to a corresponding device which comprises a driven endless or circular transport track with rotating receptacles located at uniform intervals for the containers, of a driven endless carrier strip with labels at uniform intervals, and of a contact area that is realized in the form of a transfer point between the transport track and the containers that are moving on said transport track and the carrier strip, whereby in the vicinity of the transfer point there are means that exert pressure forces and/or tensile forces on the labels to ensure the correct attachment of the labels to the containers.
These means can be, among other things, brush elements, expanded foam pads, plastic pads or similar elements.
Devices of this type are used in the food and beverage industries, among others, for the decoration and labeling of packages made of paper, plastic, glass or metal.
In one device of this type of the prior art that is used in many different types of container labeling machines, the applicators that are made of a sponge-rubber pad sit on the end of levers, which are mounted on their other end so that they can pivot around axes that run parallel to the direction of reciprocal travel of the centering bells that hold the containers in position. By means of a control cam, the levers, after the attachment of a label to the inclined or vertical neck of the bottle, are pivoted toward the bottle, whereupon the pressure device while the ends of the label are brushed on.
The device of the prior art is quite suitable for the purpose described above, i.e. for the additional fixing of labels on the surfaces or bottles that are perpendicular or at a slight inclination to the center axis of the container. One disadvantage, however, is that on account of the geometric relationships during the application of the presser against the container, in particular against inclined surfaces, uncontrolled sliding movements occur in the plane of the label. These sliding movements are more pronounced, the greater the inclination of the surface of the container to which the label is being applied, and the stronger the pressure applied by the presser. These factors result in an undesirable shifting of the labels and a non-uniform, unattractive appearance of the labeled containers. On the device of the prior art, when there are variations in the height of the vessels, which is unavoidable in actual practice, the surface over which the presser is applied to the container varies, as a result of which the labels are likewise shifted or the application pressure applied is insufficient. The device of the prior art is therefore unsuitable for a single-step, exclusive and permanent application of labels to the surfaces of containers.
DE-OS-7540 teaches that each centering bell is associated with a holder that is movably located on the upper table, which holder is in a driven connection with the centering bell and can be raised and lowered with the centering bell, whereby on each holder, a presser is mounted by means of a linear guide so that it can be moved perpendicular to its work surface, and the linear guide is inclined with respect to the horizontal so that the presser contacts the inclined surface of the container perpendicularly with at least the middle portion of its work surface.
In this device of the prior art, the pressers are automatically set to the correct height because they are in a driven connection with the centering bells, so that the label is always applied to the desired portion of the container. Therefore, for example, even labels that are located in depressions on the container can be applied correctly and reliably. Moreover, on account of the special linear guidance of the presser, even at a high application pressures, no uncontrolled sliding movements can occur, which guarantees an accurate and solid seating of the label. One disadvantage of this device of the prior art, however, is that each centering bell has its own presser, which on modern high-capacity machines that have a plurality of container receptacles, entails major effort and expense in terms of cost, service and maintenance, and is no longer desirable for economic reasons.
German Utility Model 94 11 443 also describes a labeling machine with a carrier strip for the application of labels to objects, in particular cans, bottles and similar containers, in which to release a label, the carrier strip is pulled around a dispensing edge, and the label with its adhesive surface is delivered to the external cylindrical surface of a container that is held rotationally between a presser roller and two backup rollers opposite the presser roller and is transferred onto the container, whereby the containers are continuously transported past the stationary dispensing edge and the at least one presser roller and the backup rollers located opposite it can travel with the container for at least a short distance from the dispensing edge in the direction in which the container is being transported, and can then be returned to the starting position close to the dispensing edge.
EP 0 501 105 also discloses an additional labeling device with a cone-shaped vacuum cylinder. With this device, it is possible to process cut-out labels that are located centrally and therefore in a space-saving manner on a backing strip. One unsatisfactory feature of this invention, however, is the undefined transfer of the self-adhesive cut-out labels to the conical vacuum cylinder in the vicinity of the dispensing edge, because the cut-out labels must have a defined orientation of their leading edge with reference to the surface line of the container not later than when they are applied to the conical shoulder surface of the container being labeled, to ensure a correctly positioned transfer to the external cylindrical surface of the container.
The prior art also describes solutions in which, instead of a dispensing device with a dispensing edge or a vacuum drum, purely mechanical transfer drums can be used. In such applications, however, a corresponding pressing of the transferred label is also necessary.